KTZ’s Marjan Pejoski: The World to Come

KTZ is more than fashion, it is a fusion of worlds. The brand’s creative director Marjan Pejoski and CEO Sasha Bezovski have created an aesthetic that merges music, travel, and style into a seamless, unified global perspective. Each element is such a necessary component to the entire concept and vision of KTZ, it seems impossible to embody the scope of the label exclusively in terms of the collection of garments it puts out each season. Pejoski and Bezovski’s brand is more closely aligned to a lifestyle, a perspective that can’t help but seep into every person that wears it. It transcends fads and cultural clans, resonating with people as disparate as pop stars and the old guard fashion elite.

Photo of Marjan Pejoski by Viktor Herak

The visionary men behind KTZ met in the late 80s through a mutual friend in their hometown of Skopje, Macedonia. But it wasn’t until founding their store-cum-concept space, Kokon To Zai, in London in 1996 that the pair began to truly hit their creative stride. Kokon To Zai was started, according to Pejoski, “as a space where DJs, stylists, designers, and artists could all meet to collaborate on ideas and exhibit their art…a melting pot of creativity frequented by the adventurous and those who truly challenged normative attitudes.” From day one, Kokon To Zai embodied a rebellious, hodge-podge spirit, drawing together any and every source of inspiration. The melange seemed a natural one considering Pejoski’s background at Central Saint Martins and subsequent eponymous line, and Bezovski’s successful career theretofore as a DJ. A sentiment Pejoski endorses saying, “Our working relationship flourished naturally. We’re incredibly lucky that we can collaborate and work together.”

The creation of the brand KTZ, which launched in 2003, was an organic evolution out of the ethos of their brick and mortar location. The fashion label would fuse together the pair’s diverse passions and travels to create a brand embodying the infectious spirit of youth with a decidedly global perspective on style. One look through Pejoski’s Instagram immediately proves the veracity of this sentiment. KTZ’s designs look as at home on top runway models as they do on Mursi tribesmen.

With an acute outlook, it’s no wonder Pejoski’s WILD Wish is something universally altruistic and uplifting: “To be to be part of a society without discrimination, and for children to be able to live out their childhoods in harmony.”

Music will always be at the heart of KTZ’s design. “Music is an incredibly strong presence in our lives,” says Pejoski. “We carefully curate our show soundtracks to reflect the narrative of the clothes. We develop new sounds alongside some amazing music producers, and this is integral to the label. People are as receptive and excited about our show music as they are with our clothes.”

This expansion of genres, while simultaneously blurring their boundaries, is also something that both defines and distinguishes Pejoski and Bezovski’s brand. When KTZ first began, it would create a parallel capsule collaboration along with each collection, highlighting the duo’s favorite up-and-coming creatives. “This exercise in collaboration within a brand was fun and a great experiment,” Pejoski enthuses. “We have a true respect and admiration for other designers…the KTZ artistic family has always [been] concerned with approaching beauty and fashion in innovative and different ways.”

Pejoski insists that the label is still an all inclusive project, even if they’ve dropped some of their side collaborations. Despite evolving as a brand, KTZ is still an open-minded cooperative, pulling from all artists and influences indiscriminately. “KTZ does not have an agenda,” he says, “we strive to promote a style for all that is universal and free from any socio-political views.” A liberated fashion brand permitted to create, grow, and appropriate precisely as it sees fit, incorporating all inspiration beneath their creative umbrella.

As for the exponentially bright future of the brand, it is about to embark on a new headwear collaboration next month and is just wrapping up their Fall 2015 menswear collection. “The label has grown organically, and we’ll continue to let it flourish in the same way,” Marjan explains, “as is the KTZ motto: The World To Come.”